About Construction U

Welcome to Construction U On-Demand, the next logical step in providing workforce, supervisory and leadership training.

Over the past several years, Construction U has trained thousands in a wide variety of courses and programs in Wisconsin. In early 2020, several ABC Chapters partnered with ABC of Wisconsin to pivot to a live online format, providing relevant and actionable content to more than a thousand participants throughout the country. Due to time zone differences, however, it was often difficult to provide live courses that matched everyone's schedule.  The solution was to repurpose proven content in a format that could be accessed at any time with participants learning at their own pace.

Construction U On-Demand courses are self-paced and the time required to complete each course will vary, depending on the participant and workbook exercises. In general, participants can plan on roughly between 90 minutes to 2 hours to complete each course. The exception is the 6-hour Navigating the NEC® – Electrical Exam Prep course.

Self-Paced Course Bundles

Looking for Live or In-Person Education?

Construction U offers that, too!

Construction U has been successfully running in-person soft skills, supervisory and leadership programs for the past five years, in addition to our on-demand courses listed here. Click the button below to see our full catalog of in-person and live virtual course options.

All Available Self-Paced Courses

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership, For Apprentices

    Critical Skills® (8 URI)

    4 Courses

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership, For Apprentices

    Critical Skills® – Professionalism and Productivity (2 URI)

    24 Lessons $49.00

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership, For Apprentices

    Critical Skills® – Construction Teamwork (2 URI)

    22 Lessons $49.00

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership, For Apprentices

    Critical Skills® – Communication Part 2 (2 URI)

    24 Lessons $49.00

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership, For Apprentices

    Critical Skills® – Communication Part 1 (2 URI)

    32 Lessons $49.00

  • All Courses, For Apprentices

    Navigating the NEC® – Electrical Exam Prep (6 URI)

    51 Lessons $75.00

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership

    Construction Foreman Bundle – Part 1

    3 Courses

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership

    Construction Foreman Bundle – Part 2

    3 Courses

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership

    Project Delivery Bundle

    4 Courses

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership

    Delegation

    22 Lessons $49.00

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership

    Leading the Difficult Worker

    19 Lessons $49.00

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership

    The Foreman Your Crew Wants to Follow

    22 Lessons $49.00

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership

    Transition to Foreman

    17 Lessons $49.00

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership

    Decision Making

    24 Lessons $49.00

  • All Courses, Supervisory & Leadership

    Communication for the New Leader

    22 Lessons $49.00

Partnering ABC Chapters

Why Our Members Rely On Construction U

Meet Our Instructors

The Construction Classroom

Michael Somers

Mike is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a degree in Business Management. He has over 40 years construction experience as Owner and Manager of construction businesses in Wisconsin. Mike has served on the ABC Wisconsin Board of Directors and was the driving force behind the creation of the ABC Heavy Equipment Operator Apprenticeship program, having taught the program for several years. Currently, Mike teaches the ABC of Wisconsin Heavy Equipment Operations and Construction Craft Laborers apprenticeship programs. Mike also teaches several supervisory, leadership, and management courses for ABC Wisconsin. He enjoys sharing a lifetime of real-life experience in the construction industry.

Retired Chief Electrical Engineer

Joe Hertel

Joe Hertel is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison College of Engineering with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He is a licensed Master Electrician, Commercial Electrical Inspector and Registered Professional Engineer with the State of Wisconsin. He has more than 40 years of experience in the electrical industry starting with the United States Navy. Joe was the Supervising and Chief Electrical Engineer and served as the Program Manager for Electrical, Boiler, Elevators and Fire Prevention programs during his tenure with the State of Wisconsin. Since retiring Joe has been providing consultation and training on electrical code topics as well as the training required to successfully complete the licensing examinations and continuing education requirements for licensed and registered electricians. He can be contacted by telephone at 608-807-8154 or email at joehertel@gmail.com.